AUSTIN, TX - When I think about Texas, a few things usually come to mind. It's hot. It's big. The people are extra friendly. Everyone wears cowboy boots. The atmosphere is always laid back. You're either a conservative or a reactionary. Boy, was I ever wrong.
Well, not everything was a complete surprise. Cowboy boots and hats abound in most of Texas. Businessmen wear giant belt buckles with their suits. I can't count the number of times a friendly stranger called me "hon," "big guy," or "baby." And yes, even in November, it feels like a Virginia summer.
But Austin is not your typical Texas town. In two days, I've run into more surprises than I would ever have imagined. And yet all of them have shown that the University could learn some lessons from the people here.
Everyone here has something to say. Cab drivers give their political opinions regardless of if they're asked or not. The man at Starbucks who made my grande mocha wouldn't give it to me until I let him tell me why I should vote for Gore. And despite one cab driver's musing that "man, it really looks like there's some big national event happening at the Capitol," the people here are well-informed and intelligent.
It's not that there aren't informed and intelligent students at U.Va., it's just that not enough of them voice their opinion on important subjects.
Even the international people here seem to care a lot more about the election than most University students. Noeen Anwar, a University of Texas student from Pakistan, says he "follows the American elections because politics here is so interesting." And he wasn't just citing the usual partisan fluff that most students do. He actually knew details of the issues.
Most U.Va. students base their vote on the number of sighs Gore makes, or how often Bush fumbles a word, when really they should be researching the issues. Imagine my pleasant surprise when I ran into two international University of Virginia students on the steps of the bell tower. Fourth-year students Nida Candarli and Zeynep Basak had much to say about U.Va. life, but even more to say about the elections.
Even though they are from Turkey, to them, the U.S. elections are a "very big deal. The outcomes can have very profound effects on Turkey's politics, because the U.S. rules the world."
Most Amercians don't follow the elections that well, and don't realize how important the outcome really is to the rest of the world. The same holds true at U.Va. Students here at the University of Texas realize the importance of the elections though.
It's incredible how stark the activist atmosphere contrasts with the apathy that spreads through U.Va. Citing a favorite U.Va. buzzword, University of Texas sophomore Bob Libal said, "there is a big tradition here of activism." I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the irony.
Freshman Frank Edwards excitedly told me, "I've been looking forward to coming to the University of Texas so I can get my activist groove on." What a difference a state makes. A few have decried the lack of activism and voice at U.Va., but hardly enough to take a bite out of our tradition of apathy.
Here, however, everyone is an activist and not afraid to let you know it. Whereas we have an average of three tables on the Lawn, the University of Texas has well over 30 tables, banners, booths, and rallies around their quad daily.
The West Mall, traditionally a bastion of student protest and free speech, has a sound system set up where students can protest whenever they want, and say whatever they want. The Green Party here has protested at the open microphone every day for the past three months. Issues at U.Va. die down after a week.
I attended an anti-Bush rally today that blew me away. Nothing of the sort has taken place at U.Va. since the Vietnam conflict. Signs reading "Bush is a Punk-ass Chump," or "Let's crash the F**king Grand Old Party" plastered the walls.
Dozens of progressive groups joined together to let their voices be heard. Members of the LGBTU, University Democrats, International Socialist Organization and many more stepped up to the microphone to shout their views at the thousands of passers-by. And of those passers-by, many stopped to listen or even step up to the microphone themselves. This would never happen at U.Va., as most shouts only are about the next acapella concert.
Even though Austin has surprisingly proven to be largely democratic, there is a large movement to elect Ralph Nader. The liberal pocket of Austin realizes that Bush will win the state, so instead of "wasting" votes on Gore, they are urging others to help Nader have a profound impact.
Through "vote swapping" and "Nader Trader" Web sites, many here are trying to convince Democrats to give Nader five percent of the popular vote so he can get funding in the next election. This kind of movement and activism would be an anomaly at U.Va. We can't even get our students to stay for a whole football game.
Texas in general is much like I had expected. But liberal Austin rises up out of the conservative state like a single spring flower popping up out of a foot of snow.
I've enjoyed the surprises here, and hope that someday the students at the University might learn to use our much-boasted intelligence to voice our opinion or join in activism once in awhile.
After all, I don't want to have to move to a state as hot as Texas just to enjoy the freedom of speech.
(Brandon Almond is a Cavalier Daily associate editor.)
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